[inaudible] a fabulous researcher at "the washington post" and gabriel banks. eventually i found her and i can tell all that story because not because of the book but because of she had an abusive ex-husband eventually i found an article in "the new york times" about a lot of connections. obama writes about a new girlfriend. he is going up to her family's estate. this wealthy area in connecticut. >> host: at columbia university, a classmate of the president, to be honest, he had never had many black friends, he said. i saw that switch happened most markedly during the period that i was most close to him. barack obama was the most liberal person i ever met in terms of instructing his own identity. his achievement was really an achievement in the modern world. >> guest: beenu mahmood was one of a group of pakistani friends that barack obama had. they shared with him the he was comfortable that these guys. at columbia law school, they were very good guys. it is true that obama did his best. when i interview president obama in the oval office, he talked about the s